It was before the pandemic, although precisely when is getting lost in the way those years seem to merge into one. I went to see Sweet for the first time because a mate insisted I should.
“You’ll love it,” he said. “It’s banger after banger.”
He was right. I must have seen them five or six times since, which is why listening to “Live 25” brought back so many memories. Sweet are one of those bands where everybody knows a couple of songs. Go and actually see them, though, and you realise quite how much more there is.
This recording, taken from the 2025 tour in support of “Full Circle”, captures that beautifully. They start and finish with the classics, but what happens between those points matters just as much. The newer material belongs alongside the old favourites, while the deeper cuts remind you what a formidable rock band Sweet have always been.
“Action” is simply so much fun. There is no more complicated analysis required. “Hellraiser”, meanwhile, proves that only Sweet sound quite like this. Those voices, that glorious racket, the way melody and muscle fit together: you can hear their influence in countless bands, but nobody does it in exactly the same way.
“Circus” brings things forward, and the cleverness of the set becomes apparent. A newer song can sit here without breaking the spell. “The Six Teens” follows with its classic innocence intact, and when Paul Manzi talks about being “16 up here”, you understand the point. Rock ’n’ roll is a state of mind. Whatever the birth certificate says is somebody else’s problem.
Manzi, who came to the band from Cats in Space, fits these songs superbly. Alongside him, Lee Small on bass and vocals, Tom Cory on guitars, keys and vocals, and Adam Booth on drums and percussion give Andy Scott exactly the band this music deserves.
“Don’t Bring Me Water” offers further proof that they aren’t simply a nostalgia act. There is no sense of waiting patiently for the next old hit. Then “Lost Angels” delivers that soaring melodic chorus. Lost angels of rock ’n’ roll? Perhaps that is what Sweet have been all along.
“Windy City” is lengthy and brilliant, allowing the musicianship room to breathe, before “Set Me Free” positively rollicks along. This stretch is a reminder that there was always much more happening beneath the glitter.
Then “Teenage Rampage” effectively begins act three, and this is what you want, right? The incongruity of an audience singing about a teenage rampage when plenty of us are some distance from our teenage years is obvious. Who cares? Certainly nobody joining in.
The “Wig Wam Bam” and “Little Willy” medley keeps that spirit going. Never mind AC/DC: “Little Willy” might be the best double entendre of the lot. I’m not sure you’d get away with it these days, although Sweet clearly still do.
“Love Is Like Oxygen” supplies a superb showcase for Scott’s melodic songwriting, before “Fox On The Run” closes the main set and makes my mate’s original point all over again. Every one a banger.
Last time I saw Sweet, Scott wasn’t playing because he was poorly. Hearing him here is a reminder of how much he matters to this band. These songs have his fingerprints all over them, and there is something particularly pleasing about having him at the heart of it.
By now, the crowd know their job. “We want Sweet!” Of course they do. What they get is “Blockbuster” and “Ballroom Blitz”, and you know what they want.
For plenty of us, “Ballroom Blitz” and “Wayne’s World” were part of the way into Sweet back in the early 90s. Listening now, there is a timelessness and an innocence to all this, but most of all there is sheer, shared joy. The years fall away when these songs are played.
“Live 25” is a proper document of a proper gig. Then again, every Sweet gig is a proper gig.
Rating: 8.5/10
